City’s bus services operations impeded by industrial action
The protest is allegedly by the same group of drivers who illegally protested in May earlier this year.
The Tshwane metro is warning commuters to be wary of disruptions affecting the Tshwane Bus Services (TBS) due to an illegal protest on Thursday afternoon.
Tshwane spokesperson Lindela Mashigo announced that TBS operations would be disrupted on Thursday, due to an illegal protest, allegedly undertaken by a group of bus drivers.
“The protesting group closed the gates of the city’s C De Wet bus depot after unofficially being made aware of the disciplinary committee’s verdict.”
Mashigo said the protesting group was allegedly intimidating some of their co-workers who were willing to honour their afternoon shifts on Thursday.
He said the group was seemingly part of the 33 bus drivers who were in the process of being served with dismissal letters for participating in an unprotected strike in May this year.
The drivers appeared before the city’s disciplinary committee last month.
The Tshwane metro had instituted disciplinary hearings for drivers who allegedly participated in an illegal strike on May 7 and 8.
The employees who are said to belong to the labour union Samwu (the South African Municipal Workers’ Union) participated in the illegal strike.
The drivers had to undergo a disciplinary hearing after the bus drivers abandoned their shifts without notifying management or giving specific reasons for their actions.
Mashigo said the employees faced repercussions for their absence from work, which disrupted bus operations.
He said their actions have forced the city to prefer additional charges against them as they were not authorised to be off duty.
At the time, the city had not received any formal grievance from the protesting employees.
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Also read: Driving trouble: 48 absconding Tshwane bus drivers to face the music
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